sexy hot pile
 

Here is my newest compost pile consisting of 13 pickup loads of horse manure with wood shavings. I have added some sulphur as you can see and the temps are going up as we speak. About 120 deg F right now after two days.

Last time I made one this big it got up around 140.
Check out the mountains in the background. That's our water for the summer.

I've never done the hot compost. It's going to be interesting to see this happen.

That is some hot s**t right there. Nicely done.

Looks medieval.

That is some big pile. Lots of shoveling too.

Looks good. : )

Do you have to add other stuff to it? I have read on here where some folks add molasses and other stuff.

What is the sulfur for?

Worth.

Only here do people think a big pile of s**t is sexy.

Worth,
My soil here is quite alkaline, ph about 8.5-good for asparagus and root crops but not so good for other stuff.
The bacteria in the pile convert the sulfur into sulfuric acid and this acidifies the compost.
I didn't measure the temp today but it's getting hotter.

[QUOTE=berryman;546752]Worth,
My soil here is quite alkaline, ph about 8.5-good for asparagus and root crops but not so good for other stuff.
The bacteria in the pile convert the sulfur into sulfuric acid and this acidifies the compost.
I didn't measure the temp today but it's getting hotter.[/QUOTE]

Thanks that is what I thought you were doing.
I never thought about it until you mentioned it.:)

Worth

Ricky,
That's funny, it does look medieval. Just some old pallets and a piece of plywood that I was going to burn.
I started by making a pile on the ground but all around the edges there wasn't enough of the good stuff to keep the heat going, that's why I stacked it up like that.
IF the timing works out, I am going to grab a bunch of it when it's at its hottest and bury it down below some tomatoes as an experiment. The ground around here is cold and has a hard time warming up even during the summer.
Will post more pics later

Temps
 

Check out the temp! 168deg F.

I used to see steam coming out of fresh sawmill saw dust piles.
This is why you dont put green hay in a barn.

Worth

Nice pile Berryman!! I haven't incorporated manure into my piles yet but it's definitely heating up nicely for ya! Just becareful as you don't want to get any higher than 150-55 as that is where beneficials will begin to die. It's a bit of work but I'd give it a turn to cool that baby down a little lol.. Good luck!

Ps: here's a source in relation to compost temps etc.. [url]http://compost.css.cornell.edu/physics.html[/url]

Good article Mike, thanks. I dug into the middle of the pile today and you are right, it's 180 in there. I'll do something about it tomorrow.
I figure that if the really hot part gets sterilized, when I turn it then it will probably recolonize with the beneficials again.
bob

Finally got the pile turned and here's a pic of it. Notice the plum tree is in full bloom now and you can hear the bees working it over from 150 ft away.
Lots of mycelial growth and heat left from over two weeks of cooking.

New bin
 

So here's my new bin made out of fiberglass acoustic panels left over from a job. It's 13 ft across and four feet high. This pic shows the 13th pickup load going on top.

The material is horse manure and softwood shavings about 50/50 so for my super alkaline soil I add copious ammonium sulfate and sulphur so that it ends up being a richer fertilizer and ph balancer for my poor soil.

Even though the night time lows are in the single digits and daytime highs in the thirties, it is starting to get hot. On the left you can see last Summer's load turned out in a big pile. I'll use that cooked stuff this spring.

Now you've got a heated above-ground pool! Very nice!

wow. Did you have a track hoe did the pit?

Cole, shovel power. Keeps me in shape during the winter.
Salsa, ha! It does look like a pool. My dog loves it in there too, her favorite treats now are the hoof trimmings the farrier throws in. Good chewing for days.

I wanted to get the cap off the truck for a week this fall to get some compost going this winter, but it didn't happen yet.

My 5 cubic pallets from last year were mostly horse manure, arbor vitae shreddings, leaves and kitchen scraps. I innoculated with redworms as well. They find their place in there. Those piles were down to 2 cu pallets at end of spring, and probably equal about 1 cu pallet now. I transplanted some canteloupe and watermelon on top in the summer, so got some use of that area even as it was finishing.

I do have to watch my dogs; they will steal horse manure and wolf it down like they haven't been fed for a week.

That's funny JR, never can tell what the dogs are gonna eat.
In my compost pile, it is mostly horse manure as well (with a lot of sawdust) but the farrier that works on the horses throws in the hoof trimmings which turn into these hard chewy curly things that my dog adores.